At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the northern region was still deeply affected by the war. In order to protect themselves, some clans began to build forts around their villages, relying on the large amount of land they controlled, recruiting refugees as slaves and arming them with tenants, ploughing and fighting, defending themselves against foreign invasions. This kind of fortress of cultivation and warfare is what Cai Ji calls "dock wall".

Although the dock wall is a product of private self-preservation, after more than 20 years of war, the dock walls all over the north are no longer simple village fortresses, but entangled in a series of thorny problems such as the clan clan, land annexation, hidden population, and strong armed forces. It is no wonder that as soon as Cai Ji mentioned the word "dock wall", the faces of the ministers at the scene suddenly became solemn.

Tian Feng, as the secretary of the household department, has also served as Jizhou Farewell, Jizhou Assassin History and other positions, and has the most say in this regard. But when he saw him, he bowed his hand solemnly to Cai Ji and said, "Since the Yellow Turban has caused chaos in the world, sectarian parties from all over the country have gathered to build docks to defend themselves. Hebei and You'er states are still dotted around, often thousands of people are registered, and hundreds of households are home. The large households in the dock wall cover the small households, and the small households are controlled by the large households, and they all obey the orders of the suzerain. Most of the masters of the dock wall are strong, often gathering guests, recruiting heroes, making camps, and dominating one side. As for the hidden leakage, evasion of rent, bullying the country, and the number of people who are in the shade of the household, there are countless people. ”

What Tian Feng said is roughly the same as Cai Ji's understanding of the dock wall. There is nothing wrong with the people building the dock wall to protect themselves, but when the dock wall and the clan forces are combined, a deformed "monster" is released. It is necessary to know that clan power is the cornerstone of the ancient "emperor does nothing and rules the world". There are two distinct parts to the political structure of traditional Chinese society, with the central government at the top and a top-down bureaucracy. At the bottom were local control units, held by the chiefs, squires, or local dignitaries. Later scholars summarized this phenomenon as: "The power of the country is not under the county, but the clan under the county. Clans are all autonomous, autonomy depends on ethics, and ethics creates squires. ”

However, the idyllic appearance is revealed, and the reason why the clan will submit to the national power is, in the final analysis, intimidated by the huge military power behind the national power. Once the national power collapses and the clan forces gain military strength that can protect themselves, the ideal state of "the imperial power does nothing and the world governs" will also disappear.

Therefore, in Cai Ji's opinion, Tian Feng's statement that the Wubi sect master "bullies the country at the top and Lingyin at the bottom" is quite tactful. In fact, what the Wubi Sect is doing is not a small trick such as "big buckets in, small buckets out" or mixing sand and water with the taxes and grains paid. In troubled times, the dock walls guarded by the tribes are like independent kingdoms. The Lord of the Dock and the elders of the clan are the earth emperors and nobles of this small kingdom. Villagers with the same clan and surname or land owned by the dock wall are free people. As for those displaced by the war, they are called "shade households". However, Cai Ji himself thinks that it is more accurate to call these shade households "hidden households". Because the dock wall generally does not report the specific number of shade households to the government, but the shade households are included as the private property of the dock wall and squeezed and squeezed. Therefore, the shade is actually the slaves in the dock wall, they have no property, no freedom, life and death are decided by the dock wall owner.

Some people may say that the productivity of the late Han Dynasty was already low, and that it was not necessarily a bad thing for the clan to restore slavery at the local level, at least those who were reduced to slavery could still survive within the dock walls, rather than changing children in the wasteland or becoming the souls of thieves. However, the self-sufficient dock wall will not be able to bear the heavy tasks related to the survival of the country, such as building water conservancy and consolidating national defense. In fact, the Dock Wall Tribe, which is known as brave and good at fighting, often cannot stop large-scale invasions by external forces. There will even be a situation where the two clans of the great enemy are fighting with each other, or luring wolves into the house for personal revenge. After all, as early as a thousand years ago, Shang Ying had already set the "courage to fight privately" for this kind of slavery clan armament. cowardly in public war".

In short, all monarchs and bureaucrats who tend to centralize power and favor great unification generally have a negative attitude towards clan armed forces such as Wubi. No, as soon as Tian Feng's words fell, Wang Xiu, who was the secretary of the Criminal Department, said with an extremely tough attitude, "The disaster of the Hao Party has been going on for a long time. In the past, Emperor Wu once issued the "Relocation Order". Those who have a family fortune of 3 million move their families to Maoling, beware of the gangsters of the Hao Party, and arbitrarily make decisions in the countryside. The minister thought that the king could also follow the example of Emperor Wu. Ordered that the two prefectures of Hebei and Youerzhou were full of thousands of households, and moved to Qingzhou. If there is a disrespect for those who violate the order, they will not be forgiven! ”

Wang Xiu's murderous words came from his years of fighting Haoqiang in Qingzhou. Experience and confidence in suppressing the strong and helping the weak. It must be known that in the early years, when Wang Xiu was still serving as a Gaomi commander under Kong Rong, he personally led the troops to recruit and suppress Sunjiabao, which was a disaster in Gaomi County. After Cai Ji took charge of Qingzhou, Wang Xiu, with the support of this female prince, successively exterminated a series of local powerful sects such as the Jiaodong Gongsha family and the Jimo Lu family.

However, Li Min on the side shook his head again and again, "I'm afraid this plan won't work." The north dock wall has become a trend, and the villages and villages have formed an alliance, and the forts and forts are jointly defended, and there are ten forts, fifteen forts, and even dozens of forts. Qi country grass creation, all kinds of waste to be revived, if because of the migration of the dock wall, and provoke the people, the gains outweigh the losses. ”

After Li Min finished speaking, Tian Feng also echoed, "What Li Shangshu said is true. In the past, Yuan Shao sought to be self-reliant, and there were many people in the north who were co-opted, resulting in the flooding of the dock wall and the growth of heroes. It is not easy to forcibly relocate the dock wall. ”

Although Cai Ji was unwilling to listen to what Li Min and Tian Feng said, he also had to admit that after Yuan Shao's indulgence for many years, the dock wall of Ji and Youerzhou had formed a climate, unlike the Hao Party of Qing and Xu Erzhou who were first purged by Cao Cao, and then suppressed by Cai Ji for many years, and the dock wall was eliminated in the bud before it took shape. In addition, the combat effectiveness of the dock wall is still quite impressive, such as Cao Cao's subordinates Li Dian and Xu Chu are from the dock wall masters. Although the historical Daowu Emperor Tuoba Jue defeated many opponents to establish the Northern Wei Dynasty, he was helpless against the dock walls in the territory, and after several failed conquests, he had to compromise with them and give the dock wall lord a title. Therefore, as Li Min said, once the powerful sect party in Ji and Youerzhou is forcibly relocated, it will inevitably stimulate these powerful parties to rebel. It's not a good thing for Cai Ji, who is now bent on recuperating. After all, the Qi army is not a Hu Lu who runs away after robbing, and if she destroys Ji and Youerzhou, she will eventually have to clean up the mess with her, the Duke of Qi. However, seeing that the heroes of Hebei and Youzhou relied on the dock wall, evaded taxes, and took people into slavery. For the sake of the disaster, Cai Ji really can't sit idly by.

Seeing Cai Ji with one hand on top of the file. With one hand, he lightly clasped a few hands, frowned and bowed his head silently. Jia Xu couldn't help coughing lightly. The hand twisted long beard and exhorted the young monarch in front of him, "The king implements the system of equalizing the land, clarifying the household registration, and dividing the land equally, so that the small people can have the benefit of livelihood, and the powerful have no land to seek, and in the long run, the disaster of the dock wall will be eliminated." Let's ask if there is such a strategy to draw salaries from the bottom of the kettle, why should you be in a hurry and startle the snake? ”

Jia Xu's heartfelt words. The anxious feelings that made Cai Ji calmed down slightly. Indeed, the Junda system was born in response to the disaster of the dock wall in history. But from Cai Ji's point of view, she only knows that there are some policies that can deal with related problems, but when these policies encounter setbacks in actual operation, or the effect is not obvious, Cai Ji will inevitably feel empty-hearted. At this time, Jia Xu, Guo Jia and others are needed to assist Cai Ji in improving the new policy.

Cai Ji, who came back to his senses at this moment, took a deep breath, and immediately said respectfully to Jia Xu, "Wen Hegong's words are reasonable, but he is lonely and impatient. ”

At this time, I saw Guo Jia taking over the conversation unhurriedly. "The king also can't see the people of the Hao. Although the Juntian system is a policy for drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle, it still needs to be divided to deal with the dock wall fort. ”

At the beginning of Guo Jia, Tian Feng added, "Guo Shangshu is reasonable. The minister thinks that he cooperates with the government. Those who check their household registration and measure the land can be allowed to hold official positions by the king. The table is a model. ”

"That's right." Li Min stroked in agreement.

However, compared with Guo Jia, Tian Feng, Li Min and others, Wang Xiu is still more inclined to use force. I saw him wrinkle his brows and shake his head slightly. "The Dock Sect Masters are all rebellious people, if there is no force to complement them. How could the dock wall assist the government, clean up the household registration, and measure the acres of land. According to the minister's opinion, the king still needs to choose and send troops to fight for it, so as to set an example. ”

Seeing that Wang Xiu tried his best to advocate the use of force, Guo Jia, who was the secretary of the military department, exchanged glances with Cai Ji, and after getting the latter's approval, he confessed to Wang Xiu, "Wang Shangshu doesn't know anything, and now the county soldiers and township regiments have been reorganized into government soldiers, but the government soldiers have been created and the combat power has not been completed." rashly conquering the dock wall, I am afraid that it will be difficult to win. ”

After hearing what Guo Jia said, Wang Xiu's eyes immediately widened and asked, "How can this be!?" ”

"What Feng Xiao said is true." This time, Cai Ji replied for Guo Jia with a wry smile. In other words, although the government soldiers have had a good performance in history. However, the military system in history originated from the policy of the Xianbei people serving as soldiers and the Han people working as farmers during the Northern Wei Dynasty. The whole family of the government soldiers could be exempted from service, and being a soldier became the patent of the Xianbei people, and it was not until the late Northern Zhou Dynasty, forced to be formed, that the Han began to be recruited as government soldiers. In other words, the government soldiers in history were transformed from professional soldiers and passed down from generation to generation. On the other hand, at present, all the soldiers in the Zhichong Mansion of Qi come from ordinary farmers. Although the number of these untrained government soldiers is large, they are not as experienced as the Wubi tribe, which has been baptized by war and chaos. Of course, Cai Ji can also send troops from the four military towns of Lulong, Chengde, Wuning, and Henghai to conquer Wubi, but this will inevitably alarm other princes and aliens around him. Therefore, it is no wonder that Guo Jia will build yì Cai Ji to adopt a divide and conquer strategy against the dock wall.

At this time, I heard Cai Ji personally admit that the combat strength of the government soldiers was worried, and the atmosphere in the hall became solemn again. And Wang Xiu quickly calmed down after experiencing the initial shock. Listen to him speak in a deep voice, "If this is the case, the Zhichong Mansion must step up military training!" ”

Li Min on the other side said quite optimistically, "The soldiers are all young and strong, and after half a year of training, they can defend the city and protect the courtyard." ”

"But it's still not enough to compete with the Dock Wall Section." When Wang Xiu said this, he lowered his head and thought for a moment, and then spoke again, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he can send sergeants from the military town to Zhichong Mansion to train troops. ”

"Wang Shangshu's plan can be done." Tian Feng nodded and said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the king can also select strong people from the Zhichong Mansion and take turns to transfer to the military town to assist the four armies in suppressing bandits. ”

Cao Pi sat in the corner, recording the conversations of the people present one by one, and at the same time quickly thinking about the issues discussed by the people in the temple. As Cai Ji's husband and the father of the future heir of the Qi Kingdom, Cao Pi has been living in the inner garden of Qi Palace City as the Marquis of Linzi for the past year, and has never stepped half a step out of Qi Palace City. During this period, in addition to being in charge of the scriptures and books in the inner garden, he sometimes transcribed documents for Cai Ji, and sometimes sat next to Cai Ji as a secretary to record meeting minutes as he is now.

In Cao Pi's view, Cai Ji had great trust in him by allowing him to participate in such an important meeting, but what he was doing now was not enough to repay Cai Ji's trust in him. The young Cao Pi wants to make a contribution, wants to prove that he is worthy of Cai Ji's trust in him, and wants to prove to the outside world that he Cao Zihuan is by no means a caged oriole. Especially after learning that Cai Ji was pregnant with his child, this urge began to grow stronger.

So this time, when everyone talked about how to improve the training of the government soldiers, Cao Pi, who had been listening silently, suddenly put down his pen and turned to Cai Ji and said, "Your Majesty, Pi has a plan I don't know whether to talk about it or not?" ”

No one present expected that Cao Pi would take the initiative to speak out against the norm. Cai Ji himself even cast a playful glance at Cao Pi, "What does Zihuan have to say?" ”

"Jun Shang Mingjian," bearing the unfriendly gaze from all around, Cao Pi secretly calmed down his excited feelings and said, "Pi thought that Jun Shang could send students from the Martial Arts Hall to Zhichong Mansion to train troops. ”

As soon as Cao Pi's words came out, Cai Ji's eyes lit up. Although Jiangwutang has become a comprehensive academy so far, it still retains the function of a military academy and continues to train lower-level officers for the Qi army. These students are mainly orphans adopted by Cai Ji and children of military lieutenant generals, and occasionally children from good families in Qingzhou are also enrolled. Some of them have already achieved certain achievements in the Qi army, such as Cai Cannon, Cai Shan, Cai Lin and others adopted by Cai Ji in his early years. Therefore, letting the students of the martial arts hall go to Zhichong Mansion to train the soldiers, it is indeed a shortcut to train the students of the martial arts. However, although Cai Ji felt that Cao Pi's plan was very clever, he still asked quietly, "Most of the martial arts students have never experienced battles, how to train soldiers?" ”

"Back to the king, it is more than enough to teach martial arts students to be strong in martial arts, know the art of war, and train recruits." When Cao Pi said this, he swallowed his saliva, and then plucked up the courage to recommend himself, "If the king does not give up, Pi is willing to take the lead and go to Zhichong Mansion to train troops." (To be continued......)